Six-year jail sentence for Limerick man who groomed teenager

A LIMERICK man who was in a leadership role in a national voluntary body in the course of its operations in the Mid-West region has been sentenced to six years in jail, with the final six months suspended, for grooming, sexually assaulting and exploiting a then teenage girl.

Before Limerick Circuit Court, the man who was also working as a postman at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty to seven counts including defilement of a child, sexual exploitation and sexual assault, as sample counts representing 21 charges.

In sentencing, Judge Dermot Sheehan said there was a “significant age difference” and a “breach of trust” and he put the man on the sex offenders register for life.

All of the incidents occurred on dates in 2007 and 2008 and the abuse happened between 50 and 100 times in that period. At the time, the man who is now 44-years-old would have been 27 or 28, while the woman, whose identity has been protected by anonymity, was then only 14 or 15.

The incidents happened at the house the man shared with his wife at that time, at the girl’s family home while her parents were out and in the man’s car. He sometimes collected her from school.

In sentencing, Judge Dermot Sheehan remarked that the accused “did not seem concerned about being caught.”

He added that the abuse led to the victim now in her thirties missing her “chance to have normal teenage years.”

The judge acknowledged that the man used his lawful position as a postman as a cover, planned the interactions with the underage girl and recognised his victim as a child through the remarks he made about her bedroom in the family home.

He was described as being an instructor, a leader and that he knew how young the victim was.

The girl would attend meetings for the voluntary organisation she had joined, in which he was a leader and the man would give a few of the young people a drive home, orchestrating that the girl be the last one in the car.

The abuse started with touching and kissing, and progressed onto sexual intercourse and oral sex.

Prosecuting barrister, John O’Sullivan BL, told the court that the man “took advantage of his position as a leader.”

He said that he led the victim “to believe at her young age that she was in a relationship with an older male.”

The man’s behaviour was described to the court by Mr O’Sullivan as “predatory.”

In November 2008, the abuse was reported through the channels of the voluntary organisation and was investigated by the HSE, however it did not go any further, as the victim was scared of her father finding out and she denied the claims and didn’t pursue it.

The garda investigation started ten years later when the victim reported alleged historical sexual abuse to Henry Street garda station.

The man was arrested in June 2020 and he was interviewed by gardaí four times.

Initially, he denied all allegations, before admitting to kissing and touching the girl in the third and fourth interviews. He was described in court as “being vague” in his replies.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “Grooming is very much a feature of this case” as the accused was in a position of trust.

During one incident when the older man was at the girl’s house, and was in her bedroom, he picked up some of her things and remarked that she was a “real little girl.”

The court heard that between September and November 2008, the man would abuse the girl every time they were in his car together, which was most Saturdays.

The man would put his hand inside the girl’s pants and the court heard she was nervous and didn’t know what he was doing and that these incidents happened up to 100 times.

Mr O’Sullivan said the accused “used his position to groom and manipulate” the teenage girl.

In an emotional victim impact statement, the victim said that when she joined the voluntary organisation, she thought it would be a “safe and fun place, unfortunately that was not the case.”

She said the man’s attention made her “feel special” and “wanted.”

The victim said she would wake up every morning to a text message saying “good morning beautiful” and it felt like a fairytale, she didn’t realise she was being groomed.

She said that nothing can take away the memories of being abused in her own home.

The victim told the court she feels like her life has been on hold and that she gets nightmares and flashbacks.

In mitigation, Brian McInerney SC said his client’s guilty plea saved the victim from the trauma of having to give evidence and be cross examined in a trial.

He said his client “wants to unreservedly acknowledge his guilt and wrong doing.”

Mr McInerney said that while his client was not seeking to provide excuses for what happened, a number of things were going on in his own life at that time.

“This led to a situation where his judgement was completely unsafe,” he told the court.

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The court heard that the man has no previous convictions and the court advised that he will have no unsupervised contact with minors.

Judge Sheehan acknowledged that the guilty plea saved the victim from being cross examined and giving evidence in a full trial.

Judge Sheehan imposed a sentence of seven years in jail, but reduced this down to six years and suspended the final six months on his own bond of €250 on the condition that the accused keep the peace and be of good behaviour, be available for the Probation and Welfare Services and he will consider the need for supervision post release.

The sentence was backdated to May 15, when the man first went into custody after a sentencing hearing.